Defining the Discographic Self

Desert Island Discs in Context

Edited by Julie Brown, Nicholas Cook, and Stephen Cottrell

Description

The radio programme Desert Island Discs has run almost continuously since 1942, and represents a unique record of the changing place of music in British society. In 2011, recognising its iconic status, the BBC created an online archive that includes podcasts of all programmes from 1976 on, and many from earlier years. Based on this and extensive documentary evidence, Defining the Discographic Self: Desert Island Discs in Context for the first time brings together musicologists, sociologists, and media scholars in one volume. They reflect on the programme's significance, its position within the BBC and Britain's continually evolving media, and its relationship to other comparable programmes. Of particular interest are the meanings attributed to music in the programme by both castaways and interviewers, the ways in which music is invoked in the public presentation of self, the incorporation of music within personal narratives, and changes in musical tastes during the seven decades spanned by the programme. Scholarly chapters are complemented by former castaways' accounts of their appearances, which give fascinating insiders' views into how the programme is made and how its guests prepare for their involvement.

Defining the Discographic Self

Desert Island Discs in Context

Edited by Julie Brown, Nicholas Cook, and Stephen Cottrell

Author Information

Edited by Julie Brown, Professor of Music, Royal Holloway, University of London, Nicholas Cook, 1684 Professor of Music, University of Cambridge, and Stephen Cottrell, Professor of Music, City, University of London

Julie Brown is Professor of Music at Royal Holloway, University of London

Nicholas Cook is 1684 Professor of Music at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of the British Academy

Stephen Cottrell is Professor of Music at City, University of London

Contributors:

Andrew Blake, University of WinchesterJulie Brown, Royal Holloway, University of LondonNicholas Cook, University of CambridgeStephen Cottrell, City, University of LondonKyle Devine, University of Oslo and University of OxfordJenny Doctor, University of CincinnatiSimon Frith, University of EdinburghDavid Hendy, University of SussexSarah Hill, Cardiff UniversityJo Littler, City, University of LondonTia DeNora, Exeter UniversityWill Straw, McGill UniversityPeter Webb, University of the West of England